Fantagraphics Blog

If you've attended any events at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery you've no doubt seen and perhaps met John Ohannesian. In addition to being the store's upstairs neighbor and occasional handyman/helper-outer guy, John's a talented surrealist painter whose latest series of "Paintoons" are inspired by daily comic strips and Mad magazine with an underground comix sensibility. At the store you can buy a print of his popular "gods-playing-poker" painting out of the print bin that he built for us, and if you run into him he'll be happy to give you a studio tour.

Your daily art blips: • Kevin Huizenga ponders the philosophy of domestic architecture • Part 8 of Steven Weissman's "This Already Happened" at What Things Do • It was hard to pick just one of Paul Hornschemeier's three contributions to the Game Over 3 art show at GRSF to feature here • Ben Catmull provides a status update and glimpse of the eagerly-awaited-by-me Monster Parade #2 • "Things to See" Prose Corner: A very short Twain & Einstein (& Oscar & Felix) story by Michael Kupperman

Slow-news-day all-square edition of Online Commentary & Diversions: • Review: "The book reminds me a bit of my childhood memories, where one gives nicknames to everyone and everything, and the smallest events become epic journeys. Chocolate Cheeks is a fun read, recommended to anyone who is interested in art prints or comic books." – Steven Swigart • Review: "Esther Pearl Watson’s Unlovable is a rude, crude and frequently hilarious portrait of suburban teenage life in the 1980s. The book’s narrator, Tammy Pierce, is probably the most hapless 15-year-old girl imaginable. … Her life is miserable, but she is anything but…

From "Talkin' About it": "These *****s is ducks, and you can call me Scrooge 'cause I'm swimmin' in bucks. B****!"

New Yorkers! Gilbert Hernandez will be signing his new Love and Rockets collection High Soft Lisp at Midtown Comics' Times Square location (200 West 40th Street, 2nd Floor) on Saturday, April 24 at 2-4 PM. I can't recall the last time Gilbert did a signing in NYC, so don't miss it!

Residents of the Northwest will want to visit Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery before next Wednesday, March 10 for a final look at Gahan Wilson's art exhibition. A half-dozen exquisite original paintings are complemented by 10 delightful new prints from the master of the macabre. As an incentive, Fantagraphics is offering a bookstore-only discount on both the normal and special editions of the 3-volume, embossed slipcase set GAHAN WILSON: 50 YEARS OF PLAYBOY CARTOONS. Through the end of the show, the normal edition is $25 off and the special edition is $50 off cover price! And while supplies last, each purchase…

I love this playlist of some of Joe Sacco's favorite songs that he put together for the New York Times. For one, Joe cites Wings' "Magneto & Titanium Man," describing it as a song about "made-up superheroes." Joe has to be the only comic book artist in America whom I could believe loves this song yet doesn't recognize Magento and Titanium Man as the iconic Marvel super-villains that they are. Joe, your FOOM card is revoked. I also love it because Joe cites Charlie Patton's "Down the Dirt Road Blues." Around the time Joe was working on Safe Area Gorazde,…

Guaranteed to be the glitteriest book slated to arrive in comic shops throughout the land today: Unlovable Vol. 2 by Esther Pearl Watson 416-page two-color 5.75" x 5.75" hardcover • $22.99ISBN: 978-1-60699-314-9 Being the second and final installment of the hilarious and humiliating adventures of high school misfit Tammy Pierce. In their weekly recommendations new Comics Comics correspondent Joe McCulloch admits "I didn’t read the first one, but it seems to have been well-received for its gangling verisimilitude" and Robot 6's Chris Mautner calls it "Poignant, cringe-inducing comics, to be sure." Catch up with more info and extensive previews here,…

Cribbed directly from Dash's blog: Making The AbyssDrawings from BodyWorld, Bottomless Belly Button, animations and comic short stories by Dash Shaw. Shaw's recent works (BodyWorld, The Unclothed Man, and Bottomless Belly Button) connect an interest with the human body, informed by figure drawing, with humorous character-driven narratives. This show displays his original art for these stories, which are often a combination of traditional crowquill and ink work with gouache paints, acetate sheets, animation-style backgrounds, colored marker storyboards, and mixed media collages. At the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art594 Broadway, Suite 401 (btwn. Houston and Prince) New York, NY 10012…

Bill Griffith returned my Facebook friend request just in time for me to catch his post with the original to-be-colored cover art for his next Zippy the Pinhead collection coming later this year.